Research
Randstad 2004 Employee Review: What you should know now about your workforce
A comprehensive study conducted in partnership with RoperASW.
Excerpts regarding Retention
(Randstad is a professional employment services provider.)
For many employees, “making do” translates to staying with their current job. The majority feels that it’s not a good time to change jobs. But the trend is changing. A growing number of employees are looking at the economy and taking more control of their careers. In one year alone, the number of employees who say now is a good time to lok for new jobs that pay more and offer more fulfilling work, change careers or ask fro a raise has jumped nine points across the board.
According to the Randstad survey, the following items are (in order) important in employees’ decisions to stay with a company:
You have insurance/health benefits
You find the work satisfying
You have job security where you work
You like the team of people you work with
Your workplace is close to home or you have an easy commute
Your work environment is pleasant
Your company’s products and services contribute to society
The work you do is challenging
Your workplace gives you the opportunity to work independently
Your company shares your ethics and values
You receive competitive industry wages
Your workplace provides on-site/internal training
Your workplace provides opportunity for advancement
Your workplace offers flexible work hours
Your workplace gives you the opportunity for outside training resources
Your workplace provides a stock/profit sharing plan
Your workplace gives bonuses based on company profits
Your workplace provides college tuition reimbursement
Your workplace has an employee award/recognition program
Your workplace provides creative incentives, such as trips or gift certificates
Randstad’s©: 2003 Employee Review:
Insights into Workforce Communication, Loyalty and Attitudes
A comprehensive study conducted in partnership with RoperASW.
(Randstad is a professional employment services provider.)
Excerpts from the Survey:
- While most employers (92 percent) rate themselves as good or excellent communicators, their employees just don’t see it that way. Only 69 percent of employees give the boss such high marks for communication skills, and 31 percent actually gave their managers’ the lowest possible score of poor to fair.
More than nine in 10 bosses (94 percent) say they keep employees informed about changes at work, but only 74 percent of employees say they’re told what’s going on. Ninety-three percent of managers say they answer employees’ tough questions honestly, but some of them must be whispering, because only 70 percent of employees say they’re getting straight answers. In fact, less than half (42 percent) say the boss tells them the whole story, and 30 percent of employees think the boss just wants them to parrot the “company line” rather than voice their honest opinions.
- interviews with employees and employers provide the following ten tips for improving employee communications.
- Be fast or be last. In these tumultuous times, don’t for a minute think you can sit on information, whether it’s good or bad. Seven out of 10 employees (70 percent) say they want to receive even partial information as decisions are being made even if things might change in the future. Be quick to let employees know about changes at work.
- Cultivate the grapevine. Don’t let rumors about workplace issues get out of control. And don’t think the grapevine isn’t flourishing. While 83 percent of employers think workers first hear about major changes from them, 46 percent of employees say they get it from the grapevine.
- KISS. (Keep it simple.) Employees want clear and easy-to-understand information about what’s happening. Clarity is critical. During periods of change, half of employees (51 percent) say things at work seem unorganized. Don’t try to spin bad news into innocuous twaddle.
- Tell the truth. These days, instead of wondering if the boss is capable, workers wonder if the boss is honest. And while seven in 10 supervisors (71 percent) say most people in business are honest, only half of employees (53 percent) agree with that assessment. Expect employees to ask the tough questions. Be prepared to tell them the truth.
- Tell the whole truth.You can’t hold back pieces of information that might not be well accepted at the time in the hopes that later on employees will be in a better mood. They’ll resent not hearing the whole story at one time.
- Provide a road map. Give them an idea of where the company is headed. While 83 percent of employers say they give workers that kind of information, only 68 percent of employees report receiving it.
- Say something good once in awhile.Sixty-seven percent of employees say management communicates the good news as well as the bad. Workers need to hear the good news from the boss as much as they need to hear the bad.
- Get personal. Whatever the news is that you’re providing, employees want to know what it means to them personally.
- Give details. If the company is facing really hard times, be clear about how layoffs will be handled and the exact criteria employed. Fear is not a motivator. Only 32 percent of employees and 26 percent of employers say people work harder when they are worried about their jobs. Open and honest communication in times of crisis or uncertainty is crucial.
- Listen. Last but by no means least, take the time to gather input from your people. Employees want to be heard. They often have good ideas. In companies that take action on employee feedback resulting in positive change, 78 percent of the employees say morale is excellent or good.
- (Power of the “Grapevine”) nearly half of all employees (46 percent) say they first hear about major changes at work from the grapevine, only 17 percent of employers think that’s where their workers get information.
Nearly three-quarters of employees (72 percent) and 66 percent of employers say the grapevine is more likely to spread negative information. Forty-six percent of employees and 59% of employers say the grapevine spreads information that turns out to be wrong, and two-thirds agree that it’s a distraction (64 percent of employees and 71 percent of employers).
Additionally, when employees have to rely on the grapevine to find out what’s going on, it makes them feel unimportant and undermines employee morale. … 75 percent of employees who hear about changes at work from the boss first say morale at their company is excellent or good. By comparison, only 38 percent of employees who hear things first from the grapevine say employee morale is high where they work.
- Although the survey found effective employee communications have potentially big payoffs for employers, it also found employers are not realizing all the benefits they might. That shortfall is due to the gap between how employers evaluate their own performances as communicators and how employees perceive those efforts. Those areas and employees’ and employers’ responses follow (% of employees who say their employer did each in the last year/% of employers who say they did each in the past year):
- Kept employees as up to date as possible about changes at work EMPLOYEES 74% EMPLOYERS 94%
- Gave clear and easy to understand information about changes happening at work EMPLOYEES 74% EMPLOYERS 92%
- Did not let rumors about workplace issues get out of control EMPLOYEES 73% EMPLOYERS 88%
- Honestly answered employees’ tough questions EMPLOYEES 70% EMPLOYERS 93%
- Gave employees a clear vision for the coming year EMPLOYEES 68% EMPLOYERS 83%
- Did not only communicate with employees when there was a problem EMPLOYEES 67% EMPLOYERS 83%
- Clearly explained to employees how changes at work would affect them personally EMPLOYEES 60% EMPLOYERS 81%
- Told employees the whole story; did not just give them some information EMPLOYEES 42% EMPLOYERS 81%
- Told employees exact criteria they were going to use if layoffs had been made EMPLOYEES 42% EMPLOYERS 53%
- While 55 percent of employers rate themselves as excellent communicators, only 35 percent of their employees agree. In fact 31 percent of employees rate their employers as only poor to fair communicators, ratings that only 8 percent of employers gave themselves.
- 83 percent of employees who rated their companies’ employee communications programs highly say morale is excellent or good.
- The survey also underscored the importance of not just talking to employees but also of listening to them: in companies where employers solicit and implement workers’ ideas resulting in positive change, 78% of employees say morale is excellent or good. In companies that ask but do not take action on employee feedback, only one in four employees (25 percent) say morale is excellent or good.
- The importance of two-way communication is apparent in the finding that employees at companies that at least ask for feedback and take action — even if no positive change comes about — report good or excellent morale (51 percent) which is higher than companies that ask for feedback and don’t act (25 percent).
- Additionally, the desire to establish a sense of camaraderie and “family feeling” in the workplace is growing. In January 2002, 67 percent of employees said it is important to feel like part of a family at work, and 74 percent of employers agreed. This year that number has risen to 73 percent of employees and 84 percent of employers.
Interestingly, there was a dramatic increase in the recognized need for a “family feeling” at work among employers at companies with 500 or more workers – the size of companies which are likely to have endured hardships during the past year. In large companies, slightly more than eight out of 10 bosses (82 percent) say a family feeling at work is important, up from 49 percent in January 2002. In addition, more workers at large companies (53 percent compared to 43 percent in September 2002) now say morale where they work is excellent or good.
- A commitment to complete, timely, open and accurate communication proves your loyalty to your employees—and brings a big payoff for the effort. Employees who rate their employers as excellent communicators have greater faith in top management by more than 2-to-1 over employers who are rated poorly.
Randstad North America 2002 Employee Review©
“Insights into Workforce Communication, Loyalty and Satisfaction”
Included in this year’s Review is a comparison of employees who have regular performance reviews versus those that do not. Among some of the specifics:
- 71% of those getting regular reviews describe themselves as loyal to they employer; only 49% of those who do not get reviews call themselves loyal
- Forty-seven percent of those who get reviews feel the employer is loyal to them. Only 25% of those who do not get reviews feel that way
- Eighty-five percent of those getting reviewed are pleased with the rewards they receive for doing a good job; 58% of those who are not reviewed share that satisfaction
- Satisfaction about opportunities for advanced is shared by 77% of those reviewed as opposed to 51% of those not getting reviews
- 92% of those getting reviews are very or somewhat satisfied with their manager or supervisor; among those not getting reviews, 72% are at least somewhat satisfied with their manager or supervisor
- Data on those receiving reviews also shows a higher level of “positive employee morale” and more “faith in senior management to make the right decisions”.
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